Far Exceeding Previous Peak of 56.8% in 2021
Sharp Decline of Over 20 Percentage Points for Third Child and Beyond
For the first time in history, the proportion of first-born children among newborns last year exceeded 60%. This indicates a decrease in the proportion of households having two or more children.
According to Statistics Korea's "2022 Birth and Death Statistics (Provisional)" released on the 26th, the number of first-born children born last year was 156,000, accounting for 62.7% of the total births (249,000).
This is the highest figure since birth order statistics began in 1981, significantly surpassing the previous record of 56.8% in 2021.
The number of first-born children last year increased by 5.5% (8,000) from 148,000 in 2021. This is the first rebound in seven years since a 1.4% (3,000) increase in 2015. It appears that births postponed due to COVID-19 and other factors were realized.
On the other hand, the number of second-born children sharply declined by 16.7% (15,000), from 91,000 in 2021 to 76,000 in 2022, and third-born or later children dropped by 20.9% (4,000), from 21,000 to 17,000.
The total number of births last year decreased by 4.4% (12,000) compared to the previous year, indicating that not having two or more children had an impact.
The proportion of second-born children among total births fell from 35% to 30.5% during the same period, and the proportion of third-born or later children decreased from 8.2% to 6.8%. The proportion of first-born children has been rising for 12 consecutive years since 2011, while the proportion of second-born children has been steadily declining since 2015, and that of third-born or later children since 2018.
The reasons behind not having two or more children include the increasing delay in childbirth timing and the economic burden of child-rearing.
As of 2021, the average age of women giving birth to their first child was 32.6 years, 0.3 years older than the previous year. This age has been rising annually since 1993 (26.2 years). The later the first childbirth occurs, the more difficult it becomes to have a second or subsequent child.
According to the household trend survey in the fourth quarter of last year, the proportion of consumption expenditure relative to income for multi-child households with two or more unmarried children was 60.4% on average per month, higher than 51.5% for households with one unmarried child.
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